


Dazed and Confused

by Twilight2000



Category: Covert Affairs
Genre: Covert Affairs - Freeform, Gen, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-23
Updated: 2010-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-13 23:58:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/143105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twilight2000/pseuds/Twilight2000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie has a potentially career ending injury.  How will she react?  What will Auggie do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dazed and Confused

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thetidebreaks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetidebreaks/gifts).



Annie opened her eyes – blinked – and realized she couldn’t move anything else. She remembered being in Edinburgh, remembered being on top of the battlements, but nothing after that. She’d had the chance to do a little sight seeing after the last case and she’d always wanted to see Edinburgh.

So why couldn’t she move anything? OK – no need to panic yet. There’s lots of reasons she might be unable to move. She could be in a sensory deprivation tank; she could be in some sort of suspended animation; heck, she could be under the influence of some paralytic drug like curare. That last was most likely, but none of them made her very happy about her predicament.

Come on Annie, try to remember. She was on the battlements of the castle at night, gorgeous view, now she was in what appeared to be a very dark room. Was it night or was the room just without light? Or was she blind? Oh, God, there’s so many things that could be wrong. Well, she wasn’t going to get very far this way.

###

Auggie watched through the dark window. They said the light would disconcert her and she was just coming out of a deep medically induced coma, so they wanted to keep the room dark and quiet. They’d also given her a neuromuscular block, to keep her from thrashing and injuring herself even further.

What would Annie do when she finally became conscious? When the block wore off and she realized how badly damaged she was? It was going to be a long way back for Annie – Auggie knew that from experience. He hoped she was up for that battle.

###

She must have drifted in and out of consciousness, but Annie was sure she remembered hearing “partial blindness” and “partial paralysis” in whispered voices.

She figured if she wasn’t in some nightmare excuse for a prison, she must be pretty badly injured and it was just a matter of time before they told her she was done. No one woke up unable to move in a dark room (she hoped to god it was a dark room) if they were just going back to work next week. Her hearing seemed fine though, if the whispers she kept hearing were any indication. Unless of course she was just batshit crazy and they were keeping her immobilized to keep her from hurting herself. Great Annie, such cheery thoughts. But where was her family? Her sister and the kids? Auggie or even Joan? Why had no one checked on her in… well, there was the fact that she had no idea how long she’d been here – or how long she’d been out and just missed the visits. Yea. Hold onto that.

###

“We just don’t know, Ms. Brooks. We induced a medical coma to let her brain stop swelling and she’s mended some since she came to us, but at this point, what she remembers, how well she functions – that’s a cipher until she wakes up. And frankly, a lot of how well she recovers is quite up to her.”

“Who should be here when she wakes up doctor? Will she respond better to us or her team from the Smithsonian?”

Annie thought about what she was hearing – the Smithsonian? That didn’t sound right – she worked for… for… Oh Good Grief – someone named for a meadow? OK, so whatever else was wrong, her memory wasn’t so hot right now. She knew her name – and that woman’s voice sounded familiar – but she was pretty sure she didn’t work for the Smithsonian.

“I think whatever she spent the majority of her days with will be the most familiar. If she’s the workaholic you say she is, then that’s her best bet – along with you. Her earliest memories will include you, Ms. Brooks.”

Danielle nodded, she figured she could call the Smithsonian and get them to come over. “Will you wake her up a particular time so I can get that team here, doctor?”

“I can do that, but it should be soon. You’ll want to make that call pretty soon.”

“What call is that?”

Annie knew she knew that new voice. A young guy, but a really familiar voice. Damn but she’d like to be able to SEE. When they turned on the lights or took off the eye cover or whatever was making it so hard to see anything, she’d get a good look at the guy. And the woman, whoever she was.

The doctor turned to the newcomer, “Mr. Anderson. Good to see you. Ms. Brooks was just talking about calling Annie’s colleagues at the Smithsonian. Your timing couldn’t be better!”

Again with the Smithsonian, Annie was sure that was wrong. And who was Mr. Anderson? That name didn’t sound familiar at all!

“Auggie, please. It’s the only name Annie’s ever used for me. I’m certain she’ll recognize that more than any Mr. Anderson.”

“That goes double for me, Doc. Danielle she might know – “Ms. Brooks” I even have trouble remembering!”

That’s it! That’s IT!!! OK – I have to be able to move now – I know those names! I have to tell them I’m in here!!!

“Alright, Auggie and Danielle it is. Should we have anyone else here or do the two of you make up the people she spent the most time with?”

Danielle looked at Auggie, Auggie shrugged, “There’s Joan, her boss and Jai, another … member of her team, but we’re the two closest, Doc.” Man, that was close – calling Jai “another agent” would really let that cat out of the bag.

“Alright, let’s go in.”

‘Bout Bloody Time, Annie thought. Come on, Doc, turn on the lights, remove the gauze – whatever! Just let me see these people I know!

“She’s bound to be a little disoriented at first, so we’ll start slow. Nurse, will you give us some low lights.” He turned back to Auggie and Danielle, “I’ll remove the block now as well as administer the final dose to wake her up.”

Now, Doc! PLEASE! This not being able to move is the PITS!

“This will release her muscles to function, though she’ll be a little groggy as she comes out of this. And her memory may not be all there at first.”

“We understand, doctor.” Auggie sounded so serious! Gods, how bad was it?

###

“Annie? It’s Auggie. You ready to come out and play?”

Annie was sure she’d opened her eyes and it didn’t feel like she had gauze on them, but all she could see was light spots and dark spots. Nothing would take firm shape. “Auggie?”

Danielle and Auggie looked at each other elated. She recognized at least one of them! “That’s right Annie. You’re a sight for sore eyes!”

“Man I must be bad if you’re making sight jokes!”

Danielle jumped in, “I’m here too, sis!”

“Dani? God it’s good to hear your voice!”

Danielle looked at Auggie and mouthed “hear my voice?” forgetting he was blind. The doctor took up the difference and nodded. “Annie, this is Doctor Corman. Auggie and Danielle are standing next to your bed, as am I. Your vision is, I suspect, a little blurry at present. That’s to be expected as you’re just coming out of a several day medically induced coma and you sustained some serious injuries.”

“OK – injuries. I’m guessing I got my head knocked around pretty hard? I’m having trouble remembering stuff, like I think I work for someone named after a meadow?”

Auggie had to smile, but he had to re-direct that line of thought very quickly or Danielle would begin to wonder about that Smithsonian cover, “Um, I think you’re talking about Joan Campbell – though I’m not sure why that would make you think of a meadow.”

Annie was confused – Joan Campbell? That wasn’t the name she remembered – it was, oh, it was something about a meadow – what was it?

“Doctor Corman, why can’t I see anything but light and dark?”

There it was. The question Auggie knew she had to ask. The first question anyway. She wouldn’t like the answers.

“Annie,” Doctor Corman began, “You were pretty badly injured when we found you.”  
“Where did you find me?

“I’m told you were found at the base of Edinburgh castle. You were first treated in Edinburgh, and then flown here. You’ve been out for 6 days and it’s going to take some time for you to get back to work.”

Annie wondered what he wasn’t telling her. He certainly looked concerned enough to be hiding something.

“As for your eyes, you had a pretty bad smack on the head and we don’t know how much of your vision you’ll regain. We do have therapy for that and we’ll do what we can, but a lot of it will be up to you. The harder you’re willing to work, the further you’ll get.”

“Auggie?”

“What Annie?”

“…”

Auggie could almost see her fear; he could certainly smell it. He sat down on the edge of her bed and took her hand, “Annie, you’ll have a lot more sight than I do. I don’t know if you’ll be able to get all the way back to where you started, but I do know you’ll get farther than anyone else in the same situation. And I’ll be here for you. Every step of the way.” He knew he could help her, he’d been through something similar. He wondered if that were all that was going on.

Annie turned her head toward his voice. She could make out a darker shape where he must be sitting. She looked up to where the doctor’s voice had come from, “Doctor Corman, what else is wrong? What else do we have to fix if I’m going to get back to functional? I know there’s some memory stuff, what else?”

Corman’s voice sounded careful, like he was picking his words. She wondered what he was trying to avoid. “You took some injury to the spine as well, Annie. To get back full mobility, you have a solid six months to a year of therapy to get through. The memory we’ll work on when you’re resting from the physical work. I don’t want to sugar coat this, it’s going to be a very long, very hard year – but you can recover.”

Danielle was almost in tears. Her baby sister had fallen (or been pushed) off a castle and had almost died. “Annie,” she started, “We’ll be there for you. When you’re ready to come home, we’ll help you navigate and get used to doing things on your own again. I know you’ll be in the hospital for awhile, but we’ll visit – often. You’re not alone.”

Doctor Corman figured she’d had about enough, “OK folks, she’s going to tire quickly for now. You’ll want to keep your visits short and sweet. Danielle, let me get some more information from you,” he said as he steered her out of the room, leaving Auggie behind.

Auggie turned to Annie, there would be many sessions like this, but he had to help her begin to put the pieces together now that Danielle was out of the room. “Annie, you remember that you work for someone named for a meadow because you work for the CIA – at Langley – and you’re remembering the meaning of the word. I have to cover this quickly so Danielle doesn’t get to curious. I know your memory will come back slowly, but if you know that much, you’ll begin to be able to piece together the rest. Danielle doesn’t know – and neither does most anyone else. I do, Jai does, both Joan and Arthur do – but that’s about it. At least as far as anyone who’ll be visiting. Danielle and the rest think you work for the Smithsonian. That’s your cover. Does any of this make sense?”

Annie started to nod – then realized neither of them could see that. At least for now. “Yes, it makes a lot of sense of the conflicting stories in my head. And thanks, Auggie. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna need your help to get through the next year. Corman sounded like it’s going to be a big job getting back to active status. Does he know?”

“Yes, he has to in terms of knowing what you need to be able to do to call it good. But the rest of his team doesn’t.”

Annie thought about this for a moment. This weird double life she led. She wondered how had felt about it before Edinburgh. She was pretty sure it wasn’t the same as she felt now, but she was also pretty sure she had bigger issues to deal with. Largely blind, non-functioning legs, a swiss cheese memory. Gods, this was going to be a hell of a year.

Auggie took her silence for uncertainty, “You are up to this, Annie. I know you are.”

She smiled, “I know Auggie. With people like you to help me, how could I not be?” She hadn’t noticed before, but Auggie’s cologne was really nice. What else, she thought, will I notice about him while I’m recovering? That might just be the best part of all this therapy…

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bonus story - I wasn't the official pinch-hitter, but I couldn't resist this prompt! Happy Christmas!


End file.
